Rui Miguel Marques Baião (born 4 September 1980) is a Portuguese former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Born in Montijo,

Setúbal District The District of Setúbal ( pt, Distrito de Setúbal ) is a district located in the south-west of Portugal. It is named for its capital, the city of Setúbal. Geography It is delimited by Lisbon District and Santarém District on the north, Év ...

, Baião joined

S.L. Benfica Sport Lisboa e Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional association football, football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system, Portuguese footba ...

's youth system at the age of 15, making his senior debuts with

the B-team The B-Team was a professional wrestling tag team in WWE, composed of Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel. The team are former one-time WWE Raw Tag Team Champions. They also formerly performed as The Social Outcasts and The Miztourage from 2016 to 2018 be ...

in the

third division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

. His maiden appearance in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

occurred on 8 April 2001, as he started in a 3–0 home win against

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M, commonly known as Marítimo ( locally ), is a Portuguese sports club founded in Funchal, Madeira, in 1910. Marítimo is best known for its football team playing in Portugal's top-flight competition, the Primeira Liga. ...

on 8 April 2001, and he scored the first of three goals in the competition during his career on 20 May of that year in a 1–1 draw at

S.C. Salgueiros Sport Comércio e Salgueiros (), commonly known as simply Salgueiros, is a Portuguese multi-sports club from the city of Porto, in the northern region of the country. Founded on 8 December 1911, in the parish of Paranhos, it is mostly known f ...

. After terminating his contract, Baião was supposed to sign with

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

via

Varzim S.C. Varzim Sport Club () is a Portuguese football team based in Póvoa de Varzim, near Porto in the north of the country. The club was founded on 25 December 1915, and has played at the Estádio do Varzim Sport Club since it was founded. The club pl ...

but it never materialized. From 2002 to 2011 he alternated between the top flight and the second level, representing Varzim, C.F. Estrela da Amadora, Gil Vicente FC,

Portimonense SC Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. It a ...

S.C. Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense () is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, the fourth tier of Portuguese football. It holds home matches at the ...

and

C.D. Fátima Centro Desportivo de Fátima, simply known as Fátima, is a Portuguese football club based in Fátima, in the municipality of Ourém. Founded in 1966, it holds home matches at ''Estádio Papa Francisco'', with a capacity of 1,545 spectators. Clu ...

. He also had a brief stint in Greece, with

A.O. Kerkyra Kerkyra FC, also known as AO Kerkyra ( el, Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κέρκυρα - Athlitikos Omilos Kerkyra), the ''Athletic Club Kerkyra'', is a Greek association football club based on the island of Kerkyra ( Corfu), Greece. Histor ...

. Baião retired in January 2014 whilst at the service of lower league side

C.D. Pinhalnovense Clube Desportivo Pinhalnovense is a Portugal, Portuguese Association football, football club based in the town of Pinhal Novo, Palmela, Setúbal District. Founded in 1948, it currently plays in AF Setúbal 2ª Divisão, holding home games at ''Ca ...

, due to a heart condition. He was 33 years old.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baiao, Rui 1980 births Living people People from Montijo, Portugal Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players S.L. Benfica B players F.C. Alverca players S.L. Benfica footballers Varzim S.C. players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players Gil Vicente F.C. players Portimonense S.C. players S.C. Olhanense players C.D. Fátima players C.D. Pinhalnovense players Super League Greece players Football League (Greece) players A.O. Kerkyra players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece Footballers from Setúbal District